Gr8ful Skin Couture Stimul8 Mud Review

So I was sent the Gr8ful Skin Couture Stimul8 Mud in December to review from Jennifer Newman... and let me tell you, I was very excited. With all the buzz going around about Glam Glow, I was excited to see that there was an all natural, cruelty free, vegan alternative. In this post I'm going to give you a review of the Stimul8 Mud, but I will also share with you my thoughts on how it compares to the OH so buzzed about Glam Glow.




So I was actually trying the Stimul8 for a while before I picked up the Glam Glow and I was instantly hooked. It is deep brown with a VERY strong earthy scent. It actually reminded me a lot of my grandpa's medicine shop. It's overwhelming if you are not used to it, but I appreciate the strong aroma as it has no extra artificial fragrances.

I could feel the product instantly tingle my face. Now I've tried a lot of masks in my day, but this was the first time, I felt it go so deep in my pores, I felt like I was getting a facial. It was almost bordering on  being painful, but the best kinda pain, like you feel when you are getting spa treatments. (ok it wasn't that bad, but i'm just trying to give you my thorough experience! Ha!)

After 20 minutes and washing it off, my skin instantly looked smoother, brighter and my pores looked smaller and tighter. I'm not even kidding! My skin felt wonderful without feeling too tight. Now for your reference, I have oily combo skin, so this was particularly wonderful on my T-zone area. Although this is good for all skin types, on particularly dry days, I would only use the mask on my t-zone area and put a hydrating mask on my cheeks (as I would with any mud mask).

Because people KEPT talking about Glam Glow, I wanted to see if it was worth the hype and if it was in fact better than the Stimul8 that I've been trying. So I went to grab some samples (went to 3 different sephoras. LOL don't judge me). Here are my thoughts:

Product wise, they are both vegan and paraben free, but Stimul8 mud is completely all natural (whereas GG contains natural ingredients but is not all natural) and does not use water as a filler (whereas GG has water as its first ingredient). Both containers are the same in size at 1.7 oz. GlamGlow is $69 and Stimul8 is $70.

Here is Glam Glow (light grey) on left and the Stimul8 on the right (dark brown). The Glam Glow felt like nothing compared to the Stimul8. The Stimul8 mud is by far stronger, penetrating deeper and felt more like it was 'working.' Although Glam Glow felt a tingle, it was a very light sensation compared to the Stimul8.

The Glam Glow had a lovely scent. I actually prefer this scent over Stimul8, BUT Glam Glow has artificial fragrances whereas the Stimul8 doesn't have any added fragrances. Haha.

After it dried on my face, Glam Glow made my skin feel tight, like it couldn't breathe. As you can see from the wet picture, I placed very thin layers of both products on my face, yet after they dried, when I tried to move my face, it looks as if there is a HUGE layer of product on my face. (can u see the product wrinkling as I try to move on the glam glow side?!) The Stimul8 made my face feel dry, but breathable.

 Overall, even though both products as effective, I find that the Stimul8 did a far better job as a mud mask. If you can get over the strong scent and the deep tingling sensation, your skin will thank you in the long run. Even though GlamGlow is one dollar cheaper, the Stimul8 does not have any fillers, so in turn it has way more worthy products going onto your face. Worth the extra $1 for me? I would probably pay more :)

Below are the ingredients for the Gr8ful Skin Couture Stimul8 Mud Mask for your reference:

Ingredients: Dead Sea Mud, Moor Mud, Basil Distillate, Sea Kelp Bioferment, Wasabi Extract, Black Cumin Seed Oil, Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Kombu Seaweed, Moroccan Lava Clay, Kelp Seaweed, Malic Acid (from apples), Dulse Seaweed, Amla Fruit Powder, Caffeine Extract, Calendula Extract, Papain, Chamomile Extract, Zeolite Clay, Aspen Bark Extract, Bladderwrack Seaweed, Green Tea Extract, Bromelain, Frankincense Oil, Oil of Oregano, Patchouli Dark Oil, Clove Bud Extra Oil, Peppermint Oil, Ajowan Oil, Cinnamon Bark Oil, Pine Scotch Oil, Vetiver Oil, Holy Basil (Tulsi) Oil, Manuka Oil, White Grapefruit Oil, Copaiba Balsam Oil

You can purchase your own jar of Stimul8 mud here :) 

PS. Giveaway coming soon for this product on my youtube soon! be subscribed, friends! xox

*product sent by company, but my loyalty is to my readers.. always!

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Loreal Wet Shine Stain - Dupe to YSL?

So many of you kept asking me if (well i purchased these a long time ago but forgot to post it whoops) loreal stains are dupes to my beloved YSL glossy stains.

I'm here to tell you - nope, they are certainly not! 

As a product in itself - it is not terrible. There are some flaws with it (as there are with any product) and don't perform amazingly on my lips... but if you compare them with the YSL glossy stains they fall flat... by a lot.

So here is the product :) and let me walk you through my thoughts!

Here is what the packaging looks like - i have to admit. I love the packaging. I think it looks chic and is practical!

I also enjoy this doe foot applicator. It's similar to the YSL one and it can hold a lot of product. so i quite appreciate it. I honestly can't even tell you what color this is because I returned it back to the store, but for me it looks as if it'll perform as a pretty milky pink - slightly coral color. 

Here's what the color looks like. It is the stripe that is on the left going vertical. On the right side are the two swatches of my YSL glossy stains - 27 (peche) on top and 29 (rose) on bottom. As you can see, it looks VERY similar to the color on top. #27 on me does look like a pretty coral color - and I would hope that this color would look similar.

Here she is on my lips. . . I mean, yes, it's a nice color. A pretty stained, jelly almost rose-ish color. NOTHING like what it looks like on my swatch or in the tube. In fact, I find that I have a lot of colors that are very similar to this. The texture itself did feel slightly like the YSL glossy stain, but it wasn't as tacky and doesn't feel as thick. It feels more slick and glossy.

THIS is the reason I returned it. I mean, I know my lips are slightly chapped - but not THAT chapped haha. The stain ended up falling deep within the lines of my lips and created this horrible splotchy coloring, which made me feel so sad! The worst part was that I couldn't even get it off HAHAHAHAHA! I ended up putting on a darker color lipstick on to mask it.

This is actually what made me laugh at the end. After a bit of time, here are the stains that the lip products left behind. The loreal stain ended up looking like the rose color on the bottom! nothing like the peach color on top! isn't that bizarre? 

 So if you've never tried a YSL glossy stains and think you're getting a bargain here, the product doesn't perform like it although it does have hints of similarities. IMO, I think it is well worth it to pay the extra 20 dollars to get a YSL glossy stain for better colors, texture, evenness and long lastingness.

The Loreal lip stains aren't horrible, perhaps it is just the color that i picked, or my lips.. - in fact I like the packaging and i like the fact that the texture isn't quite as thick, but you have to make sure you have very exfoliated and even lips before you think to try this product on :)

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